Obama Vetoes Keystone Pipeline XL Project

As promised in the run up to a Republican majority in Congress, the House and Senate passed a Keystone Pipeline XL bill to authorize its approval and sent the bill to the president.  Tuesday afternoon, he vetoed that bill.  He, too, lived up to his pledge.

"[B]ecause this act of Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest -- including our security, safety, and environment -- it has earned my veto," Obama wrote in his veto message to the Senate. 

It's not over, though.  

Mr. Obama’s veto did not reject the pipeline outright; rather, it allows the president to retain decisionmaking authority over the $8 billion project, which requires a green light from the State Department because it crosses the US-Canada border.

The studies have been made over and over again.  This decision making process has been ongoing for  six long years. The State Department has ok'd the project.  There is nothing else to be decided upon. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State enjoyed the postponements of the project to appease the ultra left environmentalists, as Obama does, but even she came around to saying she was inclined to say yes to its approval.  The longer Obama stalls on the final decision - as the State Department now does a "final" analysis, the closer the issue comes to Hillary's expected run for president in 2016, when she will once again be appeasing the far left electorate.

Gov Scott Walker Should Listen to Sen Rubio

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has managed to get himself into another public relations mess. The first one, you may recall, was his response to a question about his belief in evolution presented by an English interviewer in London.  He tried to duck the question when all he had to say was, "yes." It would have been over and done with. He didn't do that, however, and the story was cable news fodder for days.

George Will said on Fox News Sunday, "There are certain questions for which you answer "Yes!". "Do you believe in evolution? "Yep." "Do you think President Obama is patriotic? "Yes". No further explanation needed. These are simple questions asked of only Republican candidates by liberal media types who want to portray the Republican Party as the party of Neanderthals. We all know it. We all expect it. The candidates themselves should be the most aware of the questions that will come their way and be prepared.

"There are trap doors every day when you are running for President", said Robert Gibbs, former Obama spokesman on Meet the Press. We know that, too. We must be diligent and choose candidates who can maneuver around in the mind field of questioning from reporters. Candidates have to be on guard in even the most friendly of interviews and certainly should not weigh in on a subject if not asked about it. We have seen time and time again a Republican candidate vilified for an off the cuff answer while Democrats are consistently given a free pass. That is the reality of today's journalism.

This response from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) when he was asked about the remark was perfectly delivered:

"I don’t feel like I’m in a position to have to answer for everyone in my party who makes a claim. Democrats aren’t asked to answer every time Joe Biden says something embarrassing. So I don’t know why I should answer every time a Republican does. I will suffice it to say, I believe the president loves America. His ideas are bad.”

The response is perfect because it stops the conversation and it is truthful. No one Republican has to respond or justify or explain in any way what another has to say.  The demands for response come from a media who do not want Republicans to win.  Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) is in an uncomfortable place again because he made the mistake of saying he didn't know if President Obama was a Christian or not.  This was an unforced error. Walker is doing well in early polls as a potential presidential candidate and it was just dumb of him to go there. He is the son of a preacher so maybe it was an honest mistake but it shows he still has a way to go before he is ready to be in a presidential race.  He has been a successful governor and a proven fighter so I hope he gets it together soon.

There are plenty of policy differences that Republicans can focus on against Democrats, especially Obama, who will not be running again, so our candidates must just stay out of the fringe nonsense.  We all have our opinions of President Obama. Some have read his own accounting of his life story. There is plenty to be concerned about but it is water under the bridge now.  The man is in his second and last term. We just have to get through two more years.

Let's make sure it is a Republican who replaces Barack Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Houston Mayor Parker Attacks Guiliani on Twitter

Houston Mayor Annise Parker weighed in on the headline grabbing quote from former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani Saturday evening on Twitter.  Imagine that. The sitting mayor of the nation's fourth largest city decided to jump into political hack territory on social media against a private citizen, making a remark at a private gathering.

Guiliani stated that President Obama doesn't love America, due to his upbringing. This was in response to some less than reality based remarks made by Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast.  A potential presidential candidate, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, was at the private group dinner.

Republican Giuliani made the remarks late last night at a private group dinner that included Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is considering a 2016 presidential run."I do not believe -- and I know this is a horrible thing to say -- but I do not believe that the president loves America," Giuliani said at the New York dinner, according to Politico."He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country."

Here is the Tweet:

Annise Parker @AnniseParker · 18 hours ago

There've been Presidents I've disliked. I've disagreed with each at times. But they all loved America. Giuliani's an embarrassment.-A

The "A" at the end of the Tweet is her way of saying the Tweet was made by her, not a staffer. Some elected officials Tweet themselves, some have a staffer do it. For example, Sen John Cornyn does his own tweets on his account @JohnCornyn. Parker does both - her own Tweets and those from a staffer. 

From the City of Houston website, here is a paragraph taken from her official description:

" Mayor Annise D. Parker serves as the Executive Officer of the City. As the City's chief administrator and official representative, the Mayor is responsible for the general management of the City and for seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced. Administrative duties include the appointments, with Council approval, of department heads and persons serving on advisory boards."

She serves as the city's official representative. That responsibility includes serving all of the people of Houston, not just Democrats.

So, since the mayor follows me on Twitter, I responded:

Karen Townsend @penguinponders 12 hours ago

#Houston mayor tweets Rudy is "an embarrassment". I think Houston roads fit that description. Elected official vs private citizen.Disgusted.

Silly me. I think the mayor of Houston should be more embarrassed by the failures of her maintenance of our city than something said by a private citizen who doesn't even live in Houston. Funny, I don't remember any Tweets from her when former President Bush was being vilified - even when then candidate Barack Obama called Bush unpatriotic.

On July 3, 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama said this:

The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents — #43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.

This kerfuffle has become a multi-day story. Cable news outlets are talking about the remark with panels of pundits as though there is nothing else going on in the world. Guiliani is a private citizen. He was speaking to an audience at a private gathering. Period.

You may remember Mayor Parker signed on to a controversial campaign waged by former NYC Mayor Bloomberg against gun violence, calling for a ban on some types of guns. Parker joined in.

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced in a New York Times article published today that he plans to spend at least $50 million this year to reduce gun violence through Everytown’s educational and advocacy efforts and through personal expenditures.The organization also announced today the formation of Everytown’s advisory board – a distinguished and diverse group of leaders and gun violence survivors: Art Acevedo, Tom Barrett, Stephen Barton, Michael Bloomberg, David Boren, Eli Broad, Warren Buffett, Gloria Chavez, David Chipman, Michael Coleman, Carlos Giménez, Roxanna Green, Nick Hanauer, Geoffrey Henry, Danny Jones, Ken Lerer, John Mack, Thomas Menino, Marc Morial, Mike Mullen, Michael Nutter, Annise Parker, Cleopatra Pendleton, Nathaniel Pendleton, Tom Ridge, Gilles Rousseau, Christy Salters Martin and Shannon Watts.“This is the beginning of a major new campaign to reduce the gun violence that plagues communities across the country,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, chair of Everytown for Gun Safety. “There is no question that more needs to be done to tackle this deadly problem, and that's why more than 1.5 million Americans, nearly 1000 mayors and moms in all 50 states have already come together to fight for common-sense reform that will respect rights and save lives. This new organization will bring more people into the fight against gun violence, which affects every town in America.”

I  think some Texas gun owners were "embarrassed" by that stance.  If banning guns eliminated gun violence, the former city of Barack Obama, Chicago, wouldn't have the most gun deaths in America.

From potholes to a broken pension system, I think the City of Houston has enough problems to keep Mayor Parker busy without her having to go on Twitter and weigh in on bashing a former Republican mayor, especially one who is a partner in a flourishing Houston business.

Mayor Parker is term limited and cannot run for another term as Houston's mayor. Perhaps she should use a bit more prudence in her remarks going forward if she wishes to continue on in politics, either state or national.